gretter



Aug. l5, 1961 R. w. GRETTER 2,996,231

CABLE-HANDLING APPARATUS Filed vay 5l, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/G. 2D

' H S :l WHW mLuHHlIII\m U g t: I I t /Nl/ENTOR fan. GRETTER A T TORNEV Aug. 15, 1961 Filed vay 5l. 1960 R. W. GRETTER CABLE-HANDLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VEA/TOR R. W GRETTER ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,996,231 CABLE-HANDLING Ralph W. Gretter, VTewksbury Township, Hunterdon v. :.County, tNJ., assignor to KBell'lelephone Laboratories, Incorporated, .New 1York, N.Y., a corporation ofNew .invention relates to cable-handling apparatus for eontrollingthe rate-of movement of Aa cable passing from a point of low cable tension to a point of high cable Vtension and, ,more particularly, .to va .cable-handling ,engine having aplurality l,of improved V-.grooved sheaves adaptedito-ope'rate in tandem for .restraining or .controlling .the passage ,of ,a cable through the engine. The invention is especially useful when it `.is uemployed forhandling `ocean communication .cable of the Yarmorless type. i

y 1D .the past, ocean communication cable has been of the ftype known to .those ,skilled in the art as armored cable :and has been .fabricated with .a heavy external protective sheath or armor comprising, for example, a ymultiplicityof .spirally wrapped layers of steel wire and tape. In addition .to .protefng .theinner communication .components of .this .type of ocean cable, ythe outer armoralso functioned .as ,the .chief strength member of .the cable hea'use it possessed .,sucient strength to withstand the high mechanical tensions .encountered-during the processes ofdaying .and .recoveringthe cable. -Due to the `stur-.dy construction of .this armored ocean cable, it has been satisfactorily handled on board a ship by using cable .engines employing large .sheaves or .drums around which the @cable .was icircumferentially wrapped By makina enough -cable wraps around asuihcient vnumber ofmotoroperated vsheaves'mounted ,in tandem, .the rate of movenient-of thefcable could be adequately controlled.

.'llowever, there has recently been developed an entirely .different type of ocean `communication sable known as .armorless cable. YThis new type of ocean `communication cable has its main strength member located in ,its Acenter ,in the form of a `core made vof appropriate strong iiexible material, such .as stranded .steel wires. Immediately surrounding the `core member is an inner coaxial communieation .conductor vmade of a suitable high condu ivitymetal, l.s uchas copper. The .inner conductor -is fabricated inthe shape .of a thin tube or spi-rally wrapped tape taudis formed tightly around the core member. This inner .conductor is covered with a suitable plastic dielectrie material, Such .as polyethylene, which is molded in. a cylindrical Shape .allundthejiuner conductor. The plastic cylinder functions as an intermediate dielectric spacing member between the inner conductor and an outer coaxial communication conductor .which is also made of a suitable high conductivity metal, such as copper. This outer conductor is fabricated in the form of one or more thin tapes spirally wrapped around the intermediate dielectric cylinder. drotection for .this louter .conductor is .obtained by providing :it with a .thin .external coating, approximately two-tenths of an inch'thick, of .a suitable plastic insulating material, .such .as polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride. The resulting y.cable Vhas an outside diameter of the order .of one finch.

During the @recess of .handling .Ocean vcduurnmf:ation gable, such vas when it is being laid on the door of the ocean, thecable is usually Ecoiled in a stowage tank in the hold of a ship and is then payed out into the ocean by means of some type of cable-handling apparatus. This apparatus is ordinarily .designed tofunction as a driving force at the beginning ofthe laying of a cable in order to pull the cable out of its stowage tank and convey it into the ocean. After a sufficient length of cable has been overboarded to pull its own weight, the cable-hanfice tiling apparatus thenfunctions as a brake Afor the purpose of controlling therate 'of movement of the cable.

VViFroma cable-handling standpoint, the newly developed armorless Icable presents an unusual problem which arises from the I,fact that the interfaces between the several components of this cable are unbonded; that is, there is no chemical cohesion between the inner and outer coaxial conductors 'and the Iplastic material. This lack of cohesion is Yan 'important factor to be considered during cablehandling operations in view of the fact that the weight 'of the 'length of Vcable rthat is suspended .between the `cable-handling ship and the bottom of the ocean produces considerable tension in the cable, especially when the .cable-'handling operations are Vbeing performed in water that 'is y,Several miles deep. Due to the resulting relatively .'high cable tension in combination with the lack of cohesionbetween 'the cable components, apparatus vfor handling this type .of cable should be so constructed and arranged as to minimize the possibility of excessive .shear forces being `applied to any one portion of the cable. Ihis is because'excessive shear `forces might .produce internal slippage of the 'cable components. ln particular, the intermediate plastic dielectric material might slip with respect to the inner and outer .coaxial conductors 'with the )result that the .coaxial conductors might become deformed audthereby impair the signal transmitting qualities of 'the cable.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide means 'for minimizing the Vsubjection .of an .armorless ocean communication cable .to excessive shear stresses While lit is ,being handled under tension.

Another object Vof the invention is to provide an improved cable-handling facility .for handling armorless ocean communication cable.

An additional 'object of the invention is Ato provide la plurality of improved V-grooved sheaves in a cable-,handling engine.

1'iflieseland other objects of the invention are accomplished by `equipping a cable-handling engine with a pluralityof improved motor-operated sheaves. Each sheave is constructed with a circumferential V-groove of such size as toreceive therein a single wrap of cable. The grooves are 4formed in such a manner that the number of degrees 1in the '-V-angle of each groove is different (from thenumber ofde'grees inthe V-angle of each o the other grooves. The sheaves .are mounted in tandem for sequentially engaging a cable and are further constructed and arranged so that the number of degrees in the V- angle of V(their respective grooves increases progressively from the ,sheave at `the inboard end of the engine, which is a pQiut `OFIOW cable tension, to the sheave at ,the outhoard end .of the engine, which is a point of high cable tensio11- These and other features of the invention are more fully discussed "in connection with the following detailed description of .the drawingin which:

FIG. 1 jis a lpictorial representation of a cable-handling ship Lhaving mounted thereon a `cable-handling engine comprising a .plurality of V-grooved sheaves constructed in accordance'with thisinvention;

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and .2D are end views of respectively diierent sheavesjin the Acable-.handling engine shown n .1; and

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D are enlarged end views of the upper portionsof the sheaves shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D.

In FIG. 1, a cable-handling ship 1 is represented as carrying a supply of ocean communication cable '2 in a stowage ltank 3 'located in the ships hold. The cable 2 travels fromthe tankS to a cable-handling engine 4 which is equipped -with a succession of large sheaves A, B, lC, and D, all 'having the same circumferential length and mounted to operate in tandem. The sheaves A, B, C, and D may, if desired, all be arranged in a straight line. However, it may be preferable to mount at least one of the sheaves, such as the sheave B, in a vertically staggered arrangement, as is shown in FIG. 1, in order to reduce the length of the engine 4. The cable 2 moves from one sheave to another in sequence through the engine 4. After leaving the last sheave D, the cable 2 travels down an overboarding lchute 11 and passes into the ocean.

The engine 4 also includes driving and braking mechanism of any suitable type known to those skilled in the art for controlling the operation of the sheaves, A, B, C, and D. For example, this mechanism is represented in the drawing as including a plurality of large gears 6 each fastened to a respectively different one' of the sheaves A, B, C, and D. Each of the gears 6 is driven by a respec-l tively different one of a plurality of sm-aller gears 7 connected to a com-mon drive shaft 8 which is driven by a motor e. The sheaves A, B, C, and D are also provided with brake discs 9 fastened thereto and adapted to be engaged by suitable brake solenoids 10 operable in a manner known to those skilled in the art for retarding the rotation of the sheaves A, B, C, and D.

In order to control the rate of movement of the cable Z from the inboard end of the engine 4, which is at a point of low cable tension, to the outboard end of the engine 4, which is at a point of high cable tension, the cable 2 is wrapped around a portion of the periphery of each of the sheaves A, B, C, and D in succession. In no instance do these cable wraps completely encircle the entire circumferential length of any one of the sheaves A, B, C, and D because, if the cable 2 overlapped itself, it might become damaged. Since, in this type of cable-handling apparatus, the control of the cable 2 is dependent upon its frictional engagement with the surfaces of the sheaves A, B, C, and D, the total angular extent of contact between the cable 2 vand the sheaves A, B, C, and D is seleoted to be large enough foradequately controlling their rate of movement.

The cable 2 is initially pulled from its stowage tank 3 by operating the motor 5 which, through the gears 6 and 8, effects the rotation of the sheaves A, B, C, and D. Due to the frictional engagement of the cable Wraps around the periphery of the sheaves A, B, C, and D, the cable 2 lis pulled from its stowage tank 3 and is fed down the chute 11 into the ocean. After a sufficient length of cable 2 has been conveyed into the ocean, its own weight will be suiiicient to pull the remainder of the cable 2 out of the stowage tank 3 without using the cable engine 4 as a driving force. When the weight of the overboarded portion of the cable 2 increases further, it will have a tendency to pull the remaining shipboard portion of the cable 2 at such a fast speed that Ithe cable 2 will be liable to form kinks and become snarled and tangled. It then becomes necessary to operate the brake solenoids 10 to retard the rate of rotation of the sheaves A, B, C, and D and to thereby control the rate of movement of the cable 2 so that it will be conveyed smoothly and evenly into the ocean.

As was stated above, in this type of cable-handling engine, the control of the cable 2 is dependent upon its frictional engagement with the surfaces of the sheaves A, B, C, and D. If these sheaves A, B, C, and D were drums having at circumferential surfaces, then the cable 2 would be engaged by only this Vone surface on each of the drums and the resulting frictional control would be dependent upon the total extent of the engaged surfaces. However, if the sheaves A, B, C, and D are each formed with a circumferential V-groove o-f such size as to'receive therein the cable 2, then the degree of frictional control will be increased due to the cable 2 becoming wedged between the inclined sides of each of the V-grooves.4

Thus, by employing V-grooved sheaves, the same de-v gree o-f frictionalrcontrol can be obtained by using a small cable-handling engine that would otherwise bev provided used without damaging the `armorless cable.

by a much larger cable-handling engine having drums with flat peripheral surfaces. This reduction in size is an important advantage since the amount of available space on the deck of a cable-handling ship is limited.

Care should be exercised in selecting the number of degrees in the V-angle of the grooves formed in the sheaves because the tension decay per unit angle of cable wrap is greater in grooves having small or narrow V-angles. Furthermore, any reduction in `the number of degrees in the V-angle of a grooved sheave causes a corresponding increase in the shear load per unit length of cable Wrap. When armorless ocean communication cable is being handled by such sheaves, the shear load may become so large near the high tension tangent point on the outboard sheave as to produce internal axial slippage of the cable components.

The possibility of such damage to an armorless cable is minimized in accordance with this invention by so constructing and arranging the sheaves A, B, C, and D that the number of degrees in the V-angles of their respective grooves 12, 12', 12, and 12"' increases progressively from the sheave A at the low tension end of the engine 4 to the sheave D at the high tension end of the engine 4. This construction and varrangement is illustrated in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D and, more particularly, in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D.

However, when an armorless cable is wrapped on a drum having a at peripheral surface, there will normally be no internal axial slippage of the cable components. Therefore, in a cable engine of the multiple sheave type, it would be desirable for the outboard sheave, which is at the point of maximum cable tension, to be constructed with a flat circumferential tread. In other words, Ait is so constructed that the number of degrees in its Vgroove angle is 180.

Ocean communication cable is usually provided with instrumentality housings 13, such as repeaters, which form enlargements in the cable at spaced intervals. In order to guide the passage of these housing members 13 over the circumferential surfaces of the sheaves A, B, C, and

' D, the sheaves A, B, C, and D are provided with flanged edges 14 which curve inwardly toward their respectively associated grooves 12, 12', 12, and '12' so as to form a trough for the repeaters 13.

For any particular combination of cable 'engine configuration and cable properties, it is desirable to utilize the largest possible over-al1 tension ration which can be For a speciiic set of values of allowable shear force per unit length, coeiiicient of friction, sheave radius, wrap angle per sheave, `and number of sheaves, the optimum condition can be obtained by choosing the V-angle for the grooves in the various sheaves so that the maximum shear load per unit length of cable on each sheave is equal to:

where f is lthe coefficient of friction between the cable and the surfaces of the sheaves, To is the outboard tension in the cable, and Ris the sheave radius.

The allowable shear force per unit length for a particular armorless cable will depend upon the magnitudes and angular orientations of the unit contact forces as well as upon the cable properties. If a maximum shear force per unit length is speciiied, then the V-groove angle for the optimum condition is equal to:

where an is the included V-groove angle of the nth sheave,`

Tn is the Itension nboard of the nth sheave, and To is the tension outboard of the entire cable engine.

What is claimed is:

1. `Cable-handling apparatus adapted to minimize the production of internal axial siippage of the components of armorless ocean cable during lthe handling thereof under' tension, said apparatus comprising a cable-handling engine having a succession of V-grooved sheaves mounted to operate in tandem for controlling the rate of movement of armorless ocean cable passing through said engine from a point of low cable tension at one end of said engine to a point of high cable tension at the other end of said engine, each of said sheaves being adapted 4to receive a portion of said cable within its V-groove for 'at least partially restraining the rate of movement of said cable, each of said grooves being so formed that the number of degrees in its V-angle is different from the number of degrees in the V-angles of each of the other grooves, Iand said sheaves being so constructed and arranged that the number of degrees in the V-angles of their respective grooves increases progressively from the sheave at the low tension end of said engine to the sheave at the high tension end of said engine.

2. Cable-handling apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the sheave :at the high tension end of said cablehandling engine is constructed with ya V-groove angle of 180 degrees.

3. Cable-handling apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein and further comprising guide means adapted 1 and further comprising guide means adapted to guide the pass age of cable enlargements over the circumferential surfaces of each of said sheaves in sequence, said guide means including a projecting rim on each side of each of each of said sheaves, and said rims being so constructed and arranged as to curve inwardly toward their respectively associated grooves.

4. Cable-handling `apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the V-angles of the grooves in said sheaves are so constructed as to provide a maximum shear load per unit length on each of said sheaves that ies equal to La R wherein f is the coefficient of friction between a cable and the circumferential surfaces of said sheaves, T0 is the cable tension at tlhe high tension end of said cablehandling engine, and R is the radius of the sheaves.

5. Apparatus for Ireducing `internal axial slippage of the components of armorless ocean cable during the handling thereof, said apparatus comprising a cable-handling engine hav-ing a succession of V-grooved sheaves adapted to Operate in tandem for conveying an armorless ocean cable from la point of low cable tension to a point of high cable tension, each of said sheaves being adapted to restrain the movement of a cable wrapped around its respective V-groove, said V-grooves being so formed that each has an :angle different from the others, said sheaves being so constructed rand arranged that the angle of the V-groove in each of said sheaves increases progressively from the point of low cable tension to the point of high cable tension, and said V-groove angles being fixed in accordance with the equation:

sin TG1-1) wherein an is the included V-groove angle of the nth sheave, Tn is the cable tension at the low tension side of the nth sheave, and Tf, is the cable tension at the high tension end of said cable-handling engine.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 259,190 Meatyard June 6, 1882 2,782,906 Lidderdale Feb. 26, 1957 2,924,328 Lidderdaie Feb. 9, 1960 

